Bergeron's Work Ethic Still Relentless

TORONTO - Patrice Bergeron's list of hockey accomplishments is quite lengthy. Below you'll find just a few.

That list of accolades, however, has hardly stunted his drive to improve. He simply doesn't know any other way to approach his job.
"That's the way I've been taught to play the game and that's the only way I know how to play it," Bergeron said prior to Game 4 between the Bruins and Maple Leafs. "The approach is always to try to push your limits and be better from one game to another and working on things to get your game to another level."
It is that mindset that has allowed him to win a record-tying four Selke Trophies as the NHL's best defensive forward, and why on Wednesday night he was named a finalist for the award for the seventh consecutive season.
"It's fun watching him in practice, the way he continues to try to improve on his game," said longtime linemate Brad Marchand. "A guy like that could easily coast through practice or not try to get better. That's not the way he's built. He continues to try to work on his shot, his positioning, how he manages the puck, and different things he can. It's fun to watch."

While Bergeron is once again being lauded for his stellar defensive efforts, it is his offensive game that has made the most significant strides this season. The 32-year-old, now in his 14th NHL season, was being considered as a serious contender for the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP before suffering a fractured right foot at the end of February that caused him to miss nearly a month.
Nevertheless, Bergeron still tallied 30 goals and 63 points in 64 games - up from 21 and 53 in 79 games last season - which put him on pace for what have been a career-high 38 goals and 80 points over a full 82-game workload.
"It helps playing with two very gifted offensive players [in Marchand and David Pastrnak], and I'm trying to get open for them," said Bergeron. "That's the one thing that I've worked on the most this year is my quick release in the slot and try to get that shot off as quickly as possible, especially if I play the bumper position on the power play. There's not much time there if you want to get a shot off."
Bergeron has become a lethal scoring threat at the top of the slot, thanks to that tireless work ethic. Day after day throughout the season, the pivot has worked with assistant coach Jay Pandolfo before practice to continue quickening his release from what has become 'Bergeron's Office.'
"He's a professional every day, comes to work, he's always got something he wants to get better at," said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, who has also called on Bergeron's line for offensive zone starts much more frequently this season. "The one thing I've noticed this year is scoring - it's up - he's worked on that every day. He gets out early with Jay shooting that puck from the bumper, so he's scored there 5-on-5 - in fact, he scored in this building earlier in the year from that spot. He scored on the power play a lot there.
"There's always something that he believes he needs to improve on to stay current and be an elite player, but for him it's just his all-around approach. Very coachable, very respectful, wants to help Marchy and Pasta or whoever his wingers are…was helping [Anders] Bjork at the start of the year when we had him in there. He's that type of guy."
Marchand and Pastrnak have, no doubt, grown their own defensive games because of their exposure to one of the league's best all-around players.
"He does everything that I can't," Marchand, who finished 12th in the Selke voting last season, said with a smile. "The way he pushes himself, his linemates have to push to be at that level as well. He holds us to a high standard, expects us to be good. Pushes us to be better."